The Army says the core technology could help in the development of lighter, smaller rifles and machine guns, too.
By Joseph TrevithickJune 3, 2019

U.S. Army researchers are working to develop a personal defense weapon that offers the same muzzle velocity as a standard M4 carbine in a package that's half as long, half the weight, and uses smaller, lighter ammunition. The service's engineers say that the design features they are working with to achieve these results are readily scalable and could offer a path to lighter weight rifles and machine guns in the future, too.
In March 2019, the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), situated at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, test-fired an experimental design with a 10 inch-long barrel using ammunition with just a single gram of gunpowder, according to a story from TechLink. The gun demonstrated a muzzle velocity of more than 2,900 feet per second. An M4 firing standard 5.56x45mm M855A1 ammunition, which has around one and a half times as much powder, has an average muzzle velocity of around 2,970 feet per second.

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“The goal is to get rifle-like velocities out of a very small weapon that is high capacity, that’s either adaptable for room-clearing or confined spaces,” said Zac Wingard, a mechanical engineer at ARL told TechLink. TechLink, part of the Montana State University’s Office of Research and Economic Development, helps the Department of Defense license technology it develops in-house to private firms who can then further develop it into commercially viable, mass-producible products.

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"The powder used now in most ammunitions can be tweaked, so it runs at a higher pressure, but the guns can’t handle it,” Alex Michlin, another ARL engineer, explained to TechLink. "That’s why we designed the new breech, so we can take existing propellant and turn the knob all the way up to 11."

I can see how this could be done but........... the guys! If they don’t believe in the platform then it’s not going to work. This is door to door combat kind of stuff, I would have no confidence in it long range. I’ve been in really tight spaces before, like tunnels kind of spaces. I want a quick handling hand gun for that kind of mission and BIG lead so I don’t have to wonder anymore.

I’m getting old and things are changing.........

Well, I only know what mil friends have told me, M4 and a 45 semi auto. And, lots of ammo.

Aren't there weapons already around that are good for room cleaning ?

My only personal experience is shooting against a pal at about 50 yards. We were shooting small frozen orange juice cans. He was using an AR 15 and I was on an old SKS. He's much younger, a former Marine, and generally, a better shot than I am. I out shot him 2 to 1. The AR is probably a great gun under 100 ft? I tried it and didn't like it.

I feel for you, I don’t want to spray lead unless it’s suppression. I want to send a Thumper down range that knocks their ding-ding in the dirt. That’s just me

"On June 4, 2019, a U.S. P-8A Poseidon aircraft flying in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea was intercepted by a Russian SU-35 three times over the course of 175 minutes. The first and third interaction were deemed safe. The second interaction was determined to be unsafe due to the SU-35 conducting a high speed pass directly in front of the mission aircraft, which put our pilots and crew at risk. The crew of the P-8A reported wake turbulence following the second interaction. The duration of the intercept was approximately 28 minutes."

Keep meaning to come back to this. IRT the Spratleys, the US, Japan, and Russia have been selling and contributing arms and aircraft to Dutuerte(sp?) to shore up a modicum of resistance in the PI. I've expected for some time now for a P-8 to be fired on from one of those installations.

And I'm not sure what to think about this mess with the Ford-class/F-35. Keep in mind this all comes just days after Trump was quoted aboard the Wasp that he wished they'd "Just go back to g******ed steam." talking about the magn catapults. I kinda figured by the time Jr made the next deployment on the Bataan, they'd have the F-35 aboard. Everything's progressing with the USAF and their A models and apparently, the USMC is headed to Fairbanks for some joint venture at Eielson AFB with their B models. So

Keep meaning to come back to this. IRT the Spratleys, the US, Japan, and Russia have been selling and contributing arms and aircraft to Dutuerte(sp?) to shore up a modicum of resistance in the PI. I've expected for some time now for a P-8 to be fired on from one of those installations.

And I'm not sure what to think about this mess with the Ford-class/F-35. Keep in mind this all comes just days after Trump was quoted aboard the Wasp that he wished they'd "Just go back to g******ed steam." talking about the magn catapults. I kinda figured by the time Jr made the next deployment on the Bataan, they'd have the F-35 aboard. Everything's progressing with the USAF and their A models and apparently, the USMC is headed to Fairbanks for some joint venture at Eielson AFB with their B models. So

Yeah, I don't know RA. A deployed craft isn't the place for experimental systems that are unproven... My thinking and maybe shared by others.

There's nothing wrong with testing the mag launch system, just not on a carrier that's expected to be battle ready.

I have no idea what the problems are. I don't know how the system works beyond theory. But, things that come to mind are .. the enormous energy requirement, and inexperienced maintaince workers. The system requires a nuke power plant for carrier operation. The biggest energy requirement will be breaking inertia. This may be done (guessing) by discharging a large capacitor bank. The NRL likes big Cap banks.
Maintaining an unknown, completely new system is a bitch. There's no old timer around who's seen all the faults and knows the fixes, to ask.

Complex hardware, as you know, can fault anywhere. In my work, i'm close to a generation behind (1-3 years) in much of the hardware I use. I let others do the testing..most of the time. It's something I can control, when there's lots of stuff that can go south that I can't control..usually people related.
M.

"We were in the jungle, there were too many of us, we had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane."

Chinese national sentenced to prison linked to Public Security Ministry
BY: Bill Gertz
February 11, 2019 5:00 am
A Chinese student linked to Beijing's Public Security Ministry was sentenced to prison last week for spying on sensitive communications gear at a major military base in Key West, Florida.
Zhao Qianli, a Chinese national who told the FBI he was a music student visiting Florida as a tourist, was arrested by military police Sept. 26 after taking pictures and video at Naval Air Station Key West. He had waded into the surf along a beach at the base to get around a security fence, according to court papers.
Once inside the fence, Zhou began taking images of communications antennas and equipment at a site called an "antenna farm"—sensitive equipment used by the military, anti-drug, and intelligence agencies at the base.
The base is the southernmost point in the United States and home to Southern Command's Joint Interagency Task Force South, a group engaged mainly in countering illicit trafficking but also charged with intelligence gathering and other military activities.

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The base also trains pilots from all services in air-to-air combat. A squadron of F-18 jets and the Army Special Forces Underwater Operations School are located at the base.

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Zhao spoke fluent English and carried no identification at the time of his arrest, a sign he was operating covertly and prepared to be detained. He told MPs who confronted him that he was a tourist who was lost and had strayed on the base by accident.
Investigators also discovered Zhao was in touch with Chinese intelligence officers inside the United States before the base intrusion.
Under questioning by the FBI, Zhao disclosed he was the son of a high-ranking PLA officer and that his mother worked for the Chinese government.

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"Evidence recovered from [Zhou's] cellular phone further showed documentation of a university engineering course curriculum—when confronted with this information, Zhao Qianli simply stated he ‘did not know how it got on my phone,'" one document said.
Zhao also told the FBI he underwent military training as a university student but failed to disclose the military service on his visa application, as required.

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"After entering the restricted facility, witnesses observed Zhao Qianli walk directly toward the restricted JIATF-South antenna field and take several photographs with his Motorola cellular telephone and Canon EOS digital camera," the plea agreement states.
"Witnesses then observed Zhao Qianli take photographs with these devices of various other government buildings within the vicinity of the restricted JIATF-South Antenna Field."
It is not known why China spied on the base. However, collecting close-up images of the antenna field equipment suggests Chinese intelligence is seeking to learn details on American military communications equipment that could be used in future electronic warfare or cyber attacks.

"Twenty-seven years ago, the stars and stripes were hauled down for the final time at Naval Base Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, fulfilling the U.S. obligations to withdraw all military forces and vacate all bases after the Philippine Senate rejected a new military-bases agreement in September 1991. This ended 94 years of U.S.-military basing arrangements in the Philippines. At the time there was no peer competitor in the western Pacific, and then-Pacific Commander Admiral Charles Larson announced a new Pacific and Indian Ocean regional strategy of “places not bases,” which remains the strategy today. In 1998, a new visiting forces agreement was finally signed, allowing U.S. military personnel and ship visits to the Philippines. In 2014, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) was signed.1"

Japanese authorities rejected nine other possible sites based on the bad data.

Japanese officials have admitted that they miscalculated the angles of elevation of various mountains when deciding on where to base one of its two future Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense systems. This led them to determine the only suitable site in eastern Japan was the Araya Maneuver Area, though nine others may have been viable.
Takashi Gomi, in charge of the Japanese Ministry of Defense's strategy planning division, disclosed the error to reporters during a press conference in the city of Akita on June 10, 2019. The Japan Ground Self Defense Force's (JGSDF) Araya Maneuver Area, which already hosts Patriot surface-to-air missile systems, is situated in Akita. In January 2019, Japan's Ministry of Defense had announced that it would conduct a review of the planned Aegis Ashore site's environmental and health impacts, stemming from concerns from local officials and residents about possible negative effects of electromagnetic radiation from the system's powerful Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) radar. Japan's Aegis Ashore sites will use the LRDR in place of the original system's AN/SPY-1 radar.

Confusion about scale conversions while using Google Earth's three-dimensional virtual globe function led to officials misinterpreting the angle of elevation of certain mountains by more than 10 degrees in some cases, according to Gomi...

WASHINGTON — At extremely high altitudes, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ versions of the F-35 jet can only fly at supersonic speeds for short bursts of time before there is a risk of structural damage and loss of stealth capability, a problem that may make it impossible for the Navy’s F-35C to conduct supersonic intercepts.
The Defense Department does not intend to field a fix for the problem, which influences not only the F-35’s airframe and the low-observable coating that keeps it stealthy, but also the myriad antennas located on the back of the plane that are currently vulnerable to damage, according to documents exclusively obtained by Defense News.
The F-35 Joint Program Office has classified the issues for the "B" and "C" models as separate category 1 deficiencies, indicating in one document that the problem presents a challenge to accomplishing one of the key missions of the fighter jet. In this scale, category 1 represents the most serious type of deficiency.
Both deficiencies were first observed in late 2011 following flutter tests where the F-35B and F-35C both flew at speeds of Mach 1.3 and Mach 1.4. During a post-flight inspection in November 2011, it was discovered the F-35B sustained “bubbling [and] blistering” of the stealth coating on both the right and left sides of the horizontal tail and the tail boom.

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Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program head, said there have been no cases of this problem occurring in the operational fleet and that incidents have been limited to the “highest extremes of flight testing conditions that are unlikely replicated in operational scenarios.”

The new coating, which was introduced in Lot 8, allows the jet to withstand hotter temperatures caused by the afterburner, the documents stated. Winter characterized the material as able to withstand “what we call the thermal shock wave,” but declined to specify how the coating works or how much protection it provides.
“It may be some future advanced materials that can withstand the pressure and the temperature,” Winter said. “Then we see that, and we go, ‘Hey, look, we've got this on the book,’ [and] we do a test check to see if that new material solves that problem.”The Defense Department has also instituted time limits on the number of seconds the F-35B and F-35C can fly at speeds in excess of Mach 1.2 while at full afterburner.

But for both the C and B models, flying at Mach 1.3 over the specified time limits poses the risk of inducing structural damage to the aircraft’s horizontal stabilizer.
It is infeasible for the Navy or Marine Corps to operate the F-35 against a near-peer threat under such restrictions, the documents acknowledge.

“Pilot observed timers are not practical/observable in operationally relevant scenarios,” one document read. Another document said that “pilots will be unable to comply with time limit in many cases due to high mission workload, resulting in lost missions due to aircraft damage.”
And when those timer violations occur, they will result in “degradation of [stealth], damage to [communications, navigation and identification] antennas, and/or significant [horizontal tail damage],” one document explained.